


Shooting Stars

by HerbertBest



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Arguments, Astronomy, Healing, Kid Fic, Multi, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 10:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14767830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerbertBest/pseuds/HerbertBest
Summary: When Cammy has trouble with her math homework, Dan suggests she take a break to clear her mind, but the end up bumping into someone Dan doesn’t want to see.





	Shooting Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [saiq2004](https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiq2004/gifts).



> Part of the The Pack universe! Thank you, 0newarmline for beta work!

“Abba, I have a math problem I can’t figure out.” 

“Oh God,” Dan said, turning toward Cammy with wide eyes. “Isn’t there anyone else you can ask?”

She chewed her bottom lip, a classic sign of Cammy frustration. “The next best person at math isn’t here and I don’t know how to figure out these cosigns.” Dan knew how hard it was for her to ask anyone for help, especially with something math-related. Unfortunately, this wasn’t his place of expertise at all.

“I can look at it?” he offered.

She held up her paper and his eyes crossed. The amount of letters, dashes and symbols made him feel confused and queasy. “Okay,” he said, handing it back to her, “I’m not gonna be any kind of help.”

“I need to get this finished by the end of the week!” she whined. “It’s for my honors class. If I don’t get on top of it now, then I’m not going to be able to finish it then and everything’s gonna be a mess!”

“It’s okay, honey.” Dan reached over and squeezed her hand. “Do you wanna go take a walk? It might clear your head and make you feel better.”

“I’m not a baby anymore, Abba,” Cammy huffed. 

“Of course not! You’re a wise ten year old,” Dan agreed. “But walks help old people like me, so it should help someone young like you, too.”

She gave him a crooked smile. “Thanks,” she said, grabbing her sweater and pulling it on. She and Dan locked the house up behind them and made a long, slow circle around the neighborhood, headed to the general area of the small green island park where the kids had spent their happy youths running around. Not that Cammy and Jemma weren’t still young enough to appreciate hobby horses and see-saws still. Dan still felt like his girls were getting bigger all the time, and that time was slipping through his hands, which made his heart beat funny in his chest and made him worry about his cardiac health. He was nothing if not a total worrywart nerd.

“Abba!” Cammy called. “I’m gonna go on the swings!”

“Okay, honey. Don’t spend too long, we have to get back to the house soon!” She nodded and straddled the strap, swinging herself. Hopefully it would jog her brain. There was no way in hell he’d be able to help her out when he had absolutely no idea how to help her.

Dan sat down with a huff on a nearby bench, causing the guy next to him to let out a mild sound of alarm. When he looked over and realized who was sitting beside him, his first instinct was to get up and run.

“Hello, Danny.” Brian wasn’t looking at him, as if he couldn’t meet his gaze. He was watching his own child play on the monkey bars.

“You know I can’t really be seen with you.” That sounded so unfriendly that Dan winced at himself. “I guess I could have started with ‘hi’.”

“We’ve been communicating and making music through intermediaries for ten years, Danny. Hasn’t Arin… forgiven us yet?”

Dan understood why; the terror and humiliation of what had happened rose with fresh heat under his skin. His inattention, his incautious lust, had nearly gotten Rhea killed. He had loved Brian, and their bodies had loved one another just as strongly. “We’ve talked about it. It’s water under the bridge. I have my family, and you have yours.” He smiled when the little girl waved a hand in his direction. Christ, the last time he’d seen her she was a baby. He wondered if she remembered running away from him, imitating him when he sang. It felt like a lifetime had passed since that day; it practically had. 

“And our income’s been cut to ribbons because we can’t look each other in the eye anymore,” said Brian dryly. Dan said nothing at all; he kept on staring ahead of him. “We need to think of a solution somehow. I’m not one for gossip, but whenever I do a convention alone or you two lie about when the next Starbomb album’s coming out, the cycle starts up again.”

“Cammy needs help with her math homework,” Dan said, a rather abrupt subject change. “I have no idea how to help her. Do you think you can give it a look?”

Brian’s eyes softened, as Dan dared to look at him. “I can take a look,” he said. “It’s the least I could do.”

“Thank you,” Dan said. A boulder seemed to lift off of his chest with the words. If he could have Brian’s help, he’d be one step ahead of Cammy’s problem.

Their problem would have to wait, until they were alone and in private.

*** 

“… So as you can see, the integers can’t transpose,” said Brian. Cammy’s eyes had widened in surprised delight as the solution unfolded in front of her; Dan loved nothing better than to watch her mind expand. “So if you solve for A…”

“…then I’m solving for the whole problem. I’ve got it now,” she said cheerily. “Thank you, Brian.”

Brian smiled – not like he used to, but it had traces of familiarity. “You know, I’ve never seen you in the flesh, so to speak. You look so much like your dad.” 

“That’s what Abba says. I don’t really see it.” Cammy’s straight brown hair fluttered about her face as she shrugged. Dan could see it in her jawline, the tip of her nose, her lazy smile. Her brains, however – heaven knew where those came from. 

“Well, you do,” Brian said. “The last time I really saw your abba, you were in your father’s tummy.”

Dan tried not to dwell on the memory of that day, when Arin had given him an ultimatum between becoming a bonded member of the pack or cast out as a lone alpha. It had been a hard, bad scene – one filled with shouts and accusations, angry self-defense, and tears, all of which had been his and theirs alike. Arin had been hugely pregnant, his face swollen, and even Brian had been visibly upset. The knowledge that they’d been going beyond the limits of Dan’s help with his heats was one thing; for it to have endangered Rhea’s life was quite another.

Brian was a highly moral person, and he felt more guilt about the affair than Dan had from the beginning. An injured child becoming part of the mess, especially Dan’s flesh and blood, added an extra patina of ghastliness to their behavior. To be cast out by Arin, forced to go back to academia and gig on the side as a session musician and songwriter, had been something of a killing blow. His music career had never recovered, and with Dan firmly and fully publically mated to the rest of the pack, NSP’s audience had shrunk. Arin refused to do anymore Starbomb albums, or to let Brian do anything else with the Grumps. NSP wobbled on in the background, doing one album every four years, recording in two separate studios with TWRP in a third and letting Jim wed the tracks back together. Dan had made his main focus ‘serious’ music, for which there was a somewhat smaller but still loyal audience. None of them would ever starve, but the dizzying highs of huge fame were behind them.

With Cammy leaning into Dan’s shoulder, he knew he’d made the right decision, but he still wished he hadn’t lost the brotherhood he’d had with Brian, the precious sweet core of a thing that they’d managed to fuck up with alpha hormones and sex.

“Can you come out to dinner?” Dan asked suddenly. He knew what a risk it was, how dangerous it was for them to all be in the same place again after ten years. Even Cammy could pick up the tension.

“Ask Arin first,” he told Dan firmly. “We’re not – I’m not causing another scene.” 

Dan pulled his phone out, and tried to figure out how to word things. This would not be easy for Arin. In fact, he might eat Dan alive for this.

Cammy rescued the moment, in the way only she could. “Um, as long as you’re here, I could use some help adjusting my telescope. There’s supposed to be a meteor shower tomorrow, and I really wanted to see it.”

“Astronomy’s not exactly my forte,” Brian said, “but I can try to see if your line of sight is off.”

“Thank you,” she said kindly. “We can look at it after we finish these last problems.” 

Brian bent over the homework with her, and together they puzzled out the right answers together.

*** 

Brian dropped his daughter off with his wife, and then made his excuses for dinner. Dan and Cammy went ahead to set things up; he was surprised to see Rhea sitting in the kitchen with Jemma, finger painting on piles of newspaper. Everything was muddy gray-green, and Dan had no idea how they were going to clean everything up in a speedy manner.

“Dinner time, kids,” Dan said, kissing the crown of his daughter’s head. As he pulled back her hair, he could still see the scar at Rhea’s temple – well- hidden most of the time by all of that frizz, but popping out starkly to him now as he nuzzled her. 

She utterly stank of alpha hormones under a layer of zesty soap and cologne; ah, the power of youth.

“Let Ross and Mom eat around us!” Rhea said. “As Zip would say, we’re making ART.”

“Capital A-R-T ART, huh?” Dan said. “What kind of art’s happening?”

“Painting,” said Jemma, who was concentrating heavily.

“What kinda paints, Jem?” 

“Colors,” she said, and carefully drew more red circles.

“That’s good,” Dan said and kissed her cheek, which earned him a tiny smile. She had been picking up a lot more words lately, to his everlasting gratefulness and relief. 

“Once she finishes I’ll start packing up. Where are Dad and Mom?”

“Out at Target. Howie said she’s picking up coffee – yes, she’s got your favorite – and Zip’s busy trying to work her way onto the homecoming float. Ross is supposed to be streaming ‘til 8, so he’s getting the leftovers.” Thankfully, Arin had prepared a lot of pot roast the night before so it wouldn’t take a lot of work to make everything look delicious and fresh. Dan started making preparations, pulling the roast from the fridge to reheat it in a pot of gravy. He considered making fresh mashed potatoes and some carrots to go with it.

“Need help, abba?” Rhea asked. She was starting to clean away the kitchen table. 

“Nah, I’ve got it. Can you get Jem cleaned up?”

“I’ll do that,” Cammy said. “Rhea, can you finish cleaning the table and set it?”

“Oh fine, leave me with the bull work.” But Rhea carefully set Jem’s artwork aside even as she complained, and then started putting away the art smocks and washing up the spots that leaked through the paper. They worked together silently, until Rhea finally looked up.

“So why are we working so hard?” She asked. “Are sabba and safta coming in?”

“Well,” Dan said, “it’s… kind of a long story. Cammy and I ran into an old friend, and I invited them over for dinner. We haven’t seen them in a long time.”

“Oh,” Rhea said. “You have so many friends, abba. If we haven’t seen them in a long time, I don’t know who it could be.”

Rhea’s response was innocent enough to make Dan feel enormously guilty. He said softly, “since it involves you, I think you should know… it’s Brian.”

Her shoulders went stiff, and Dan felt as if he’d taken a heavy blow between the shoulders. “You really expect me to have a nice friendly dinner with him?” she asked.

“I’d like it,” Dan said. “He never meant for what happened to happen.”

“So what I feel about it doesn’t mean anything?” Rhea folded her arms unhappily. “It’s his fault I fell out of that tree, and he’s the reason you almost left.”

Cammy looked up from her telescope, looking at Dan with alarm. The rest of the kids hadn’t known a time when their parents weren’t a single, stable unit. The notion of them being anything else was shocking – as well it should be. If Dan heard his parents talking about infidelity, he’d have panicked, too.

“That was a long time ago,” Dan reminded her. “We haven’t argued like that since then.”

“I know,” said Rhea. “But you came pretty close to breaking up the last time you were all together. Sometimes I think–”

“It wasn’t what you said,” Dan promised her, even though her anxiety and anger had definitely helped him make the choice to stay. “It wasn’t anything to do with you. It was because we didn’t know how to balance what we were becoming with what we were.” 

“But it was because I…”

“It wasn’t you,” Dan repeated. “In any case, it’s been ten years. You’re sixteen now.”

“Gee, I didn’t get the memo. Anything else you want to tell me about myself while we’re here?”

“Rhea!” If it were one of her other parents, she would’ve been verbally beheaded, but all Dan could manage was a wounded gasp.

As always, Rhea crumbled in the face of his horror – the way he crumbled in the face of her cutting words. They were a real pair, weren’t they? “I’m sorry, abba.”

“Let’s just make a deal,” he said. “If you feel weird, I’ll ask him to leave. If he says something mean, I’ll ask him to leave. But you have to hold up your end of the bargain by trying to be nice.”

“Deal,” she said. “And nice therapy speak.”

“It’s the truth,” Dan promised. He reached out to hug her but she pulled away and started rattling the silverware around in their container. Dan knew he couldn’t do anything else to help Rhea understand where he was coming from, so he stood by and allowed her to keep working with the dishes. 

Soon enough they’d all have to face Brian, and for that they’d have to be strong.

*** 

Arin grabbed Dan by the shoulder the minute he came through the door with plastic Target bags in tow. “We need to talk in private before he gets here.”

“Ar, look, I know–”

“In the bedroom. Now.”

Dan followed him there, and Arin locked the door behind them. Sitting down on the bed, staring at his oversized sneakers, he was ready to be reamed out for his choices, for tears to start flowing, but instead Arin leaned back against the bedroom door and breathed deeply. 

“Seriously? Fucking Brian?”

“I didn’t look him up,” Dan said, and it took everything he had not to sound defensive. “Didn’t even think I’d ever see him again, after everything. He just happened to be in the park where I took Cammy to blow off some steam, because her homework was freaking her out.”

“Cammy got freaked by homework? Are we even talking about the same Cammy?”

“We’re not trigonometry people in this family,” Dan said. His smile was crooked. “Arin, you know I’m not into him that way anymore, don’t you?”

Arin squeezed his hands hard against his thighs. “That’s what I used to think, until he showed back up like this and you invited him over”

“Yeah, it’s.” Dan blew a piece of hair out of his face. ”It’s a lot to take in.”

“Brian knows we’re married, right? All of us?”

“Yeah. He saw the announcement online,” Dan said. They didn’t talk about their lives; the last communication had been when Brian had tried to send them flowers and cards on the announcement of their commitment ceremony, but Arin had burned them – literally, right there in the backyard fire pit. “I don’t think he’s going to try to pork me at the table or anything. He hasn’t given me that vibe at all.”

“I hope he won’t be scoping out my super droopy post-baby cleave either.” Arin was almost, but not quite, smiling.

“You’re not droopy!” Dan objected, and Arin let out a self-deprecating laugh. “You’re curvy! And hot!”

“Thank you. It’s nice to know you love me even though my butt womb’s out of business.”

Dan turned an interesting shade of pale. “Please don’t ever call it that again. Whether I can hear you or not.” 

Arin let out his worst, most wicked cackle and Dan just groaned. Why had he agreed to meld genes with this man again? 

Because he loved him, and watching him stand there laughing his butt off at his own stupid joke reminded Dan of why.

“You are still the most ridiculous man in the history of the world,” Dan said.

“Thank you,” Arin said sweetly. “I try.” 

He really did. Dan needed to give him a lot more credit for it. “Did you tell Suzy?” he asked.

“I had too. She read it over my shoulder and called him a rotten son of a bitch.”

“Sounds right.” Dan almost didn’t want to face her wrath alone. It wasn’t that he was frightened of his wife, but an angry, bossy Suzy had a way of countermanding everyone in the house (except for Holly – if Suzy was a tank, Holly was a mountain).

“It’ll be okay. We’ll deal with it after Brian’s gone.”

The doorbell rang. “I’ll get it!” Rhea hollered. Dan and Arin looked at each other and shrugged.

“Well. Game time.”

“Yep.”

*** 

It turned out not to be Brian nut Zip, who had managed to forget her keys, swiftly followed by Holly and Ross. The entire family took the roast and made a decent feast of it. It was warm and waiting when Brian finally knocked on the door, a few minutes later.

Dan took the time to really look him over now, less afraid of ‘getting caught’ now than he had been earlier. Those deep, bright blue eyes that so haunted and dared him for the first years of the girls’ lives, the ones that had glimmered whenever he’d pranked Dan, or turned sympathetic upon hearing a sad story – they hadn’t changed at all. Brian was multifaceted in ways that had fascinated Dan once; it was like holding a beautiful prism in his palm. He had loved him when they were a tangle of limbs lying sweaty on his bed. He’d loved him when they were sitting side by side on a bumpy road alone, trying to get from one end of the state to the other, starving on ramen and dreams. He’d loved holding him on the stage of their first sold-out show. There were a lot of reasons he loved Brian then.

But now? He felt camaraderie, warmth… but not passion. His passionate side belonged to Arin and Holly and Suzy and Ross. It was kept safe in their hands. He didn’t feel sadness or pity around Brian, or about having lost the thing they could’ve had, only a sad little longing for how badly everything had turned out.

“May I come in?” he asked. “I brought wine.” He had, and of course it was French and expensive. 

“Yeah,” Dan said. He got out of the way. 

“Hi,” Brian said. Suzy and Arin hung back, Holly and Ross smiled politely, and Rhea flat-out glared at him. As always, Zip’s answer to tension was to bury her nose in her phone. Jemma, always shy with strangers, clung to Suzy’s leg. 

But it was Cammy who rushed toward them, her telescope cradled in her arms like a lost child. “Brian! My telescope isn’t focusing right and I’m going to miss the meteor shower! How do I fix it?”

Brian knelt to talk to her. “We’ll take a look after dinner, okay?”

She nodded. “I’m famished,” she said.

“Famished?” Rhea teased gently.

“Don’t make fun of her,” Holly said. “Thank you for the wine, Brian. We’ll go chill it for after dinner. Which is ready, by the way.” She ruffled Cammy’s hair and the girl winced and tried to comb it back into place.

“Well, let’s retire to the gastronatorium!” Dan said.

“That’s not a word, Danny,” said Brian.

“Language is flexible, Brian,” he said, and ended the playful argument at base.

*** 

Dinner went well. Rhea talked about shop class, Zip talked about painting a float for homecoming, and Cammy talked about math, science, and history. That engaged Brian – they started debating about whether or not the two princes in the towers were really murdered.

“What lovely dinner conversation,” Ross said, only to have Suzy and Holly jump into the debate over top of him. He stuffed his mouth to keep from laughing at them while Arin and Dan served the kids and kept glasses full. 

“I’ll say this, Dan,” said Brian, as Suzy cleared the table and Arin sliced up dessert, “your floor show is amazing.”

“We’re not a circus,” said Rhea, her hackles clearly rising.

“It would be unbecoming to suggest as much,” said Brian, though his eyes were mischievous. “Are you doing well, Rhea?”

“As I’m ever going to be,” Rhea said. Her expression was a bit too pointed. 

“Good,” Brian said. “I’ve been worried about you.” He coughed. 

Dan’s wounded feelings were clear on his face, while Arin looked as if he’d swallowed a golf ball. He should have known this would unravel eventually.

“It would’ve been nice if you cared about me at the right time. And that’s all I’ll say.” Rhea took her plate of cake and began to stab at it.

“Don’t eat like a barbarian,” Suzy scolded.

Rhea responded by shoving her face into the cake like a dog into its kibble.

“Rhea!” Suzy said, while Dan laughed and Arin shook his head. 

“Don’t you like the floor show?” she asked. Jemma – who hadn’t made a peep for the entire night – was looking at her and giggling, and for Dan that was a reward that would undo every punishment.

When Jemma stopped laughing, she started staring at Brian’s face. “Mustache?” asked Jemma.

He touched the edge of what she’d pointed out; he’d just begun growing it out, judging from its miniscule width. “That’s right,” he said. “This is a mustache. What do you think?”

Jemma pointed her fork toward Arin’s face. “Like daddy,” she said.

“I… guess so?” Brian raised an eyebrow. “Though mine’s less bushy.” He was going to ask Dan some questions, but all Dan really wanted to do was find some solid ground for the conversation. 

“So how’s your session work been?” Arin was clearly pretending to care. Dan could see the anger in his eyes, but he kept his mouth shut and continued to push the cake around on his plate. 

Rhea was licking her fingertips and grossing out her sister.

“Oh, it comes and goes. I’m doing some Chopin-lite arrangements for the local polysymphony.”

“How very like you,” Arin said. If he knew what Brian was talking about, he didn’t indicate it. Instead, he finished his cake. 

“Do you miss it at all?” Brian asked.

“Making music?” Arin shrugged. “Yeah, sure. But if I had to share a stage with you again, man, I don’t think I could take it. It reminds me of the good times we used to have.”

“Of course.” Brian swirled the wine around in his glass. “My wife and daughter are well.”

“Good,” Holly said, cutting up Jemma’s carrots at the time.

“Great to hear,” Ross said.

“We should talk about Starbomb,” Arin said suddenly. The words came out of nowhere and surprised everyone at the table, not least of all Dan.

“If we’re going to, we should do it in private,” said Brian. “May we be excused?”

“You’re an adult, dude,” Arin said. His tone was hard to place.

They pushed back from the table and went to the backyard. As soon as the three of them were alone, Brian immediately turned toward Arin. “I’m sorry.”

“For coming here?” asked Arin. There was that tone again, so inscrutable to Dan. He thought he knew every way Arin spoke.

“For sleeping with your husband-to-be while you were pregnant,” Brian said plainly.

“Well that sounded super soap opera,” Dan said lightly.

Arin wasn’t smiling. “We’re well past ‘I’m sorry’ for that, dude. I know it’s been ten years now, and I really thought I was over it all, but seeing you brings everything back, no matter what you have to say.” 

“Arin…” Dan started. 

“I know, I promised to be nice. It’s old baggage I need to get rid of.” Arin let out a long sigh. “It’s going to take some time. Don’t be shocked if I’m still prickly around you for awhile.”

“I won’t be. Dan and I crossed a lot of lines together that we shouldn’t have. We’re over it now.” Brian looked at Dan in a way that was almost as unreadable as Arin had sounded. Why were they both like this? “I’m over it now, anyway.”

“Me too,” Dan said. “As I think you well know.” He wasn’t going anywhere; he didn’t want to go anywhere.

“All right,” Arin said. His shoulders came down from around his ears as he relaxed. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“You yelled at me ten years ago,” Brian said. “I deserved it, but it’s the past.”

Arin shook his head and let out a soft chuckle. “Okay, I want some pictures of your kid.”

Brian had them on his phone; Arin looked at them in the moonlight while Brian drew Dan aside.

“I meant to ask you if Jemma is autistic, but I couldn’t think of the right way to broach the subject. Is she getting the right sort of speech therapy? I know some doctors I can recommend.”

Dan nodded. “It took Suzy awhile to come around. She was in denia, fought with all of us a lot. But Jem’s with a specialist, and her vocabulary is getting bigger.”

Brian’s eyebrows almost cleared his forehead. “Suzy, of all people, was into denial over it?”

“Well, it was around when Rhea started to come out about being nonbinary.” Dan shrugged. “It was a lot for her to take at once, and she blamed herself.”

“Rhea’s nonbinary?” There was nowhere left for Brian’s eyebrows to go.

“Yep. It was tough on her for awhile, but she’s handling it.” Dan smiled. “She’s wearing my old leather jacket around.”

Brian smiled. “She’s your twin. No wonder she wants to be just like you.”

“Everyone tells me that,” Dan said. “Sometimes I don’t see it like they do. Sometimes I see it way too clearly.”

“How’s Zip doing?”

Dan sat down on the stone wall hemming in Holly’s garden. “She’s in the AV club, which she needs for college but makes her look terribly uncool, according to her. The two of them are graduating next year. Rhea’s been boxing, which is killing Suzy, but she’s as stubborn as a rock about it. She’s really good. Who knew my genes would produce a talented athlete?”

“Hey,” said a voice from the doorway. “Half your genes wants to know if they can come set their telescope up out here.”

“Oh!” Dan said. “That’s… fine?” He glanced at Arin.

“Go ahead,” he said, still smiling at the pictures of Brian’s daughter flipping by his eyes.

“IT’S FINE!” Rhea yelled over her shoulder, then entered the backyard herself. 

“Come sit down,” Dan requested, patting a spot next to him. 

Rhea shook her head. “I don’t want to be where I’m not welcome.” She deliberately locked eyes with Brian.

“You’re plenty welcome,” Brian said. His ability to sound neutral without overt sarcasm had clearly improved in their decade apart.

Rhea leaned against the doorframe. “I think I have a right to bear a little grudge. You’re the reason I have a huge hole in my skull after all.”

“You don’t have a hole now,” Dan pointed out. “Just a cool scar. People love scars.”

“Still,” said Rhea. But the corner of her mouth quirked up. “I remember how we used to be. You were like my uncle.”

“I was one of the first people to hold you,” Brian said. “I had to fight off your father’s mother for extra time.”

“You never told me that story,” Rhea said to Dan.

“I didn’t want to tell any of my Brian stories,” he said.

“Well, now I want to know all of the details,” she said.

“Well,” Brian said, once again indicating that she should sit down. This time, Rhea took up the offer, to be instantly replaced by Zip holding Jemma’s hand. “When you were three, I used to babysit you when your family went out of town. You used to love it when I made spaghetti, and you thought anchovies were disgusting.”

“Still do,” said Rhea.

“You used to love Sesame Street. We’d spend hours watching that and Mister Roger’s Neighborhood. You loved to run around in the backyard; ours was smaller, but we have a big orange tree that you liked.”

Rhea took all of that in with interest, a bit in spite of herself. “I’m… glad to know all this stuff,” she admitted.

“I’m glad to tell you about it,” said Brian. “Is there… anything you want to know about the accident? I don’t want any answers left unshared.”

She shook her head. “Everything I need to know, I know.”

“Bygones, then?” he asked.

She nodded, considering, thoughtful, but nonetheless agreeing. “Bygones,” she said.

Zip entered then, carrying Jemma on her hip. She sat down beside Brian and smiled awkwardly. Dan was glad that she was making her own nervous effort; the injury had been traumatic to Zip, too. But for the moment, there was peace. 

He’d settle for peace.

“Let me help you with that,” Brian said, springing to his feet as Holly and Cammy entered with the telescope.

“I’m glad everyone’s talking again,” said Cammy, as they settled it down. “I don’t like it when there’s fighting.”

“No one likes to fight. But sometimes it’s just something you have to do.” 

Dan and Arin traded knowing looks, but said nothing. 

The family gathered closer to the telescope, and together they watched at the sky above them lit with shooting stars. Dan let out a little gasp, and his hands took hold of Brian’s. An arm wrapped its way around his shoulder and held on firmly. From the other side, Arin took hold of him.

The sky was on fire, unfathomably huge, but his family was here. His family was anchoring him to the earth even as everything spun around him, into the dazzled eyes of his daughter, spinning towards healed hearts and second chances.


End file.
